Ann C.
Yelp
I drive past this place all the time and see their sandwiches at Kroger but finally stopped in today for dinner. I am a huge sucker for a good deli and wanted to see if Antone's would make the cut. Btw, their hours aren't posted here but they close by 7pm everyday except Saturdays when they close by 5pm.
I came in and was immediately greeted by the owner, who was very friendly and helpful. I asked him about the different sandwiches/sides people like and he recommended the Cuban PoBoy (one of their hot sandwiches) but I had read about the super poboy and wanted to try that. All sandwiches can be made fresh, and you can also request veggies (sprouts, onions, tomato, lettuce) on your sandwich (these normally don't come on the pre-made ones). The sandwich itself was $5.95 (probably 8-10 inches long?) but a combo with chips/drink was $1 more, not bad.
While my sandwich was being made, I browsed the rest of the store. There's lots of tables around the shop and shelves of canned/dried Greek and Italian goods to check out. In the front there's displays of pre-made sides/items to go. There were large salads (tuna, greek, chef), tabouli, deviled eggs, desserts (cheesecake!), hummus, pasta salad, and more all for really reasonable prices. I'd definitely come here to pick up a few pre-made sides if I'm having a busy week so I can throw them into packed lunches or add them to sandwiches/salads.
My sandwich was delicious and filling. It wasn't the traditional Louisiana po'boy I think of (ie: fried shrimp or roast beef) and seemed more Italian to me than anything, but it was still very tasty. The white sub bread was chewy on the outside and fluffy on the inside and came packed with salami, ham, turkey?, provolone, veggies, mayo, and their special 'chow chow.' Chow chow is Antone's special sandwich ingredient: pickled, vinegary cabbage with a slight sweetness and crunch. The tabouli was also quite good, lots of parsley and tomatoes with a pungent garlicky flavor.
The cashier was also quite friendly and told me about the history of Antone's as she checked me out. So great to know that they're a family-owned Houston establishment going strong for over 50 years now! I'll definitely stop by again to sample a hot sandwich (the meatball or Cuban po'boy!) as well as more of their sides.